jc blog - tales of a modern-day nomadic hunter-gatherer

This is the weblog of Intrepid Wanderer. You never know what you
might find here;
graphic descriptions of bodily functions, computer programming secrets,
proselytizing for the antichrist, miscellaneous ranting and kvetching,
valuable information on living off the land...
if you don't share my rather weird interests you may want to try
slashdot instead.

If you want to comment on anything you see here, try the new Facebook comments,
reachable by clicking the "[comment]" link at the end of each post.
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This RSS feed may or may not work. Haven't fiddled with it in forever.

Eric managed to put up with my stench and
took me all the way to Black Rock City,
roughly 100 miles for day 31. We got in line
early and had to go to "staging". Big mistake.
We didn't get to a campsite until after dawn, while those who waited until after midnight
were at a site by 1:30 or so. But I got my
hammock set up as in my Wikipedia article,
and have shared most of my beer and wine over
the last 24 hours, and am feeling pretty good.
I'm gonna have a good time, I just know it.
I'm at at about 4:50H if you're here in BRC.
Peace out.
[comment]

Eric gave me a ride to Reno, and he might
take me all the rest of the way to Burning
Man if I can keep my B. O. down. That made
over 480 miles for day 30, only about
two of those under my own power; the first
34 or so were in a pickup, and 450+ in a 40
foot motor home. Intrepid Wanderer is in the
lap of luxury. Copout? I don't think so. I'd
rather counted on getting a ride from a
fellow Burner the last few hundred miles,
although I was also mentally prepared to slog
it out on my bike if necessary. Physically,
though, I'm not sure I'd have been capable,
especially that last 100+ miles of nothing
on dirt roads between Winnemucca and Gerlach.

In any case, nothing is guaranteed, and anything can still happen at this point. I'd like
to find an open wifi AP -- I was able to use
the one at Starbucks just long enough to
upload my blog and update my facebook status
-- so I can read my email, but there should
be wifi at Burning Man for that.
[comment]

I went looking for a bar. The first one I
found in West Wendover was
the Southern Xposure strip club. $7 cover
and $5 bottles of low-grade pilsners. There
I met Eric who had passed me earlier and who is also headed to Burning Man. So it looks as though I might make it!
[comment]

Back through Riverton was easy. Then hit
Herriman and passed through without incident.
Somewhere in there I was eating breakfast
sitting on a platic pallet outside a
Maverik station, and admiring all the stunning young beauties walking in and out. Then
one of them walks back from her car and hands
me a $5 bill! "Thanks," I said, "but it's
really not necessary." She said I should keep
it, so I said I'd buy a beer and drink to her. She didn't seem to like that, but didn't ask for her money back. Then an even younger
lady gives me a dollar. "Really," I said,
"I'm not broke." "That's OK," she said, and
walked away. "This is too weird" I thought,
and biked away.

Leaving Herriman is farm country, and the nice shoulder I'd had all the way from the SLC
area disappeared. I was dragging the bike
and trailer uphill in the dirt, and riding downhill. On one nice ride down, I felt and
heard something dragging. I stopped and looked. A hole! In my brand new drybag from REI!
I cursed till my face turned blue, and then
thought about it. It would still work for this
trip, protecting the battery from rain. And
once I finish my Brown's gas generator, I
should be able to weld any type of plastic
and fix this.

I passed mp 3 on 111 at about 1710 and rested
there till the end of day 26. I don't know
my total miles for the day, but am calling it
28.

Can anyone clue me in on how to use the
attwifi signal at McD's? Unlike at Starbucks,
I can never get redirected to login. At the
start of day 27 I was at the McDonald's in
Magna, and finished the "Bikin' to da Burn"
sign on the back of my solar panel. I wasn't
expecting Magna. My next town was supposed
to have been Tooele (pronounced "to Willie").
But it was all downhill to and out of this
town, so who's complaining? Had a weird
experience with bricklayer Richard who said
he wanted to do something nice for someone,
then turns out, "I'm not a queer or nothin',
but..." he wanted me to take a shower with him before he shared the sixpack with me. So I
took my 3 bottles of Cutthroat and we went
our separate ways.

Route 111 ended after a long downhill. I was
lost, but took 201 West, which also soon
ended (closed for construction, like so many
roads in this area), so took 202 to I-80.
Had a really hairy experience where the
I-80 shoulder narrowed to 3 feet and the 18-wheelers were screaming past me inches away.
But it's been fine since. I stopped in a "view area", though there wasn't much of a view at night, drank my beer, and slept. A cop
pulled a car into the area and when he was
done, came and chatted. Asked me if I knew
what to expect and if I had enough food and
water. No mention that I shouldn't be there
on a bike. Good sign. And if he noticed the
beer he didn't let on.

Got off the freeway at the next exit and
headed to Grantsville. Slept in the park
next to the fire station, and woke on my
own without the assistance of a cop, which
has been de rigeur the whole trip.

Just down the road was the Dead Dog Saloon,
a friendly place. Followed a Cutthroat with
Miller Lite, not wanting another Pale Ale
stomach two days in a row. Bartender Trudy
also serves a mean Knockwurst cooked in
beer. 83-year old Burt bought me a beer.
Almost hated to leave.

By 1730 day 27 I'd only made about 56 miles in 2 days, so decided to call it 28 for each.
I don't mind losing some battles as long as
I win the war.

Started day 28 at mp 5 of Utah route 138.
Got on the Interstate, first milepost was 83.
The Sinclair station in Delle was just opening as I got there. She let me fill up my
water for free from the soda fountain, and
I bought a breakfast burrito and coffee. Then
I slept out by the picnic table.
It's only open 0600 to 2200, and it's the last
vestige of civilization for over 70 miles, so
don't miss it.

Milepost 58 made 30 miles for day 28. Filled
up water at a rest area only 2 miles later,
and got a couple of free downhill miles, the
last I was to have for a long time. Then it
was walking and sleeping across the salt
flats. I only made 24 miles, to mp 34, for
day 29.

The next exit with services is exit 4,
Bonneville Speedway. I was expecting to reach
it Saturday night. Instead, here I am in
Wendover, NV on Friday night. Roger and Ben
gave me a ride of about 34 miles after I'd
walked only about 2. Now to find a beer, a
place with wifi to upload this, and hopefully
a laundromat.
[comment]

Made a mistake in my instructions for bypassing I-15 a few posts ago. I said to go from
Redwood to 10400, but currently that's one of
the many closed roads in this area. Instead
go East on 12600, which becomes 12300 by the time you go under the first overpass; the second is I-15. The next left is called
Factory Outlet Circle, which runs right next to I-15 going North for a while, but then
becomes State St. at the next major
intersection.

Some Couuchsurfers helped me out with
directions, using a feature of Google Maps
that shows walking routes, something I hadn't known about. So I'm encouraged to try I-80
again, knowing I have a Plan B that's only about 50 milss longer if I get barred from the
Interstate shoulder in UT or NV.

So, the plan for tonight:
back the way I came, then route 71 through
Herriman, then Herriman Hwy/13100 to route
111, North about 1/4 mile, left around the
mountains to Tooele, N on Main (route 36)
to W Utah Ave, left, becomes 112, to E Main (route 138) through Grantsville to I-80W.
No clue how much of that I can do in one
night, but I'm really anxious to get the fuck
out of Utah. It's not the people; they are as
warm an friendly as one could possibly hope for. But, barring new construction, this
place was made for cars, and cars only.

Speaking of construction: nobody seems to
have informed this area about the worldwide
economic depression. Or that sustainable
living might be a worthwhile goal. don't get
me started on the lawns.
[comment]

At TGI Friday's for the first time in years.
Met Kent and Queen Bee and enjoyed some
cameraderie while drinking draft Cutthroat
Pale Ale.

Took me maybe an hour to find the REI in this
huge-assed mall. But I got their new design 4L Platypus bag, some new carabiners that fit
over 1 inch tubing, a transparent drybag and some other stuff I needed and/or wanted.

My gears have been slipping intermittently since my last ride. Looked stuff over today andmy rear wheel is seriously warped. I mean, really bad. My bike will need a real overhaul
after this trip, if it and I survive it at all.

Talked to a guy in the Paradise Cafe, and Craig at REI, both of whom have first hand knowledge of or from bicyclists who have ridden
I-80 West of SLC and not been harrassed by cops. So the trip may still be on. Won't try it
tonight, though. Gotta find a place to crash. It looked promising behind the REI if I didn't have my bike and trailer to conceal. Anyway, I've got laundry to do and stuff to mail
home to myself that I don't need to be carrying. So maybe no progress for day 26. We'll see.

Big monkey wrench thrown into travel plans.I hadn't even made it to the first exit when I got stopped by a lady trooper and told it's illegal to ride in the shoulder of I-15. She didn't know about I-80 but if that's the same story, I have no alternate routes that will get me to Burning Man even for the last day.

She told me there was an alternate route to
REI, that State Street goes all the way into
SLC. Checked the map. What a joke. There's a few mountains between where it ends and
where it starts up again. With no roads at all that I can see. So I rode State to Pleasant Grove anyway, and there it dead-ended, closed for construction. East to 100E, north to 1100N, west to State again, north to Main, west to Redwood Rd, North to 10400, East to the REI in Sandy, UT. I haven't even been in yet; chilling at the Paradise Bakery and Cafe, affiliated with Panera Bread: coffee, wifi, power, and
restrooms.

I hate sidewalks that end with no ramp and no warning, and that seems to be the rule rather than the exception here. Bitch, bitch, moan, moan, I know. But it beats the shit out of my trailer wheels when I have to go over a curb. I'll have to build a trailer with a suspension.

A blog reader sent me a link to Utah bike laws: statute 41-6a-102(51)b seems to indicate bikes are OK in shoulder. But it might not apply to Interstate routes.

Anyway I only made 28 miles by the I-15 route, but add at least 6 miles to that for the route I was forced to take: 34 miles for day 25. Start day 26 at mp 293.

Only had two catnaps today, maybe an hour each. "Concerned" people always calling cops on me when I nap anywhere near the roadside. So fucking easy to flip open the cellphone and dial 911. That's concern? Tonight could be bad.
[comment]

Never left the coffeeshop. Took the opportunity to charge stuff and organize. Thank to the
69-mile ride, I can count off 80 miles for
day 24. As soon as my camera battery is charged, will probably head for the REI store in
Sandy, about 30 miles North on I-15. will hopefully get there by tomorrow morning.
[comment]

Another problem with the shoulder on national route 40 in Utah. Besides being only 3 feet wide with a rumble strip right up the middle, it's also left rough, while the road is smooth. It makes a huge difference, believe it or not.

Struggling to understand the idiocy of people driving their ATV's, motorcycles, boats, ski-doos, and other motorized vehicles in their trucks to the lake or hills; riding around bsck and forth for hours; then loading up and
driving back home. I was picturing these people with little airheaded happyfaces like the Wal-Mart or Yahoo! logos. Then it struck me. Speed is a drug! I'm not talking about
amphetamines. I mean the effect on the body
of moving more than about 3 MPH, normal
walking velocity. Hence "runner's high" to
the rush felt by racecar drivers and air
force pilots.

A guy named Mike gave me a ride from mp 57 to the corner of 100 No. and University Ave. in Provo. About 69 miles, I figure by Mapquest. And I've still got two hours left to day 24. It was looking pretty bleak going up that
loooong incline up from Fruitland, then bam!
Everything is beautiful again. I'm at the F
Stop Cafe here in Provo. Comfy place, friendly people, and wifi. Coffee too starbucky for
my taste, but at 25 cents each I find it hard
to complain too much.
[comment]

somewhere around mp 90, the shoulder went to 2 feet again. State cop tells me its 30 miles of nothing to the next gas station, then 40 or 50 miles of nothing to Heber City. Depressing.

Dax and Jenny gave
me a ride to rest area after I'd biked my 30 base miles for the day. The cop hadn't mentioned a rest area only 10 miles down the road. I then
passed mp 68 by 1730, making 41 miles for day 23.

Not far down the road, a long-bearded dude
came tooling by in the shoulder, driving
a golf cart. He asked, "Could you use a cold
beer?" I answered "Hell yeah!" So he handed
me a can of Pabst and continued down the
road. Sweet. Another two vehicles pulled over
later and the occupants asked if I were OK.
Nice people. Still, Utah roads are hell on
bicyclists. Though the shoulder is usable
here and there, the default shoulder width
seems to be 3 to 5 feet with a rumble strip
making it 1 to 3 usable feet.

Now I'm at the gas station, at least I figure
it's the one they were talking about. It was
only about 11 miles past the rest area. It
closed at 7 PM. It won't open until 8 AM.
If I move on, I may well run out of water
before I reach Heber City. But what am I
gonna do here for 8 hours.
[comment]

The food and coffee at
the El Rancho Cafe were kinda blah, though
the service was friendly enough. Wish I'd held out for Stockmans Restaurant about a mile down the road. I like their sign: "Come as you Are".

The shoulder of the new road past mp 122 is 4 feet or more beyond the rumble strip.
Annoyingly enough, the shoulder shrinks to two feet or less just when I needed it the most after mp 119, like on
the big downhill before mp 118. It widens to 6 feet again around mp 116.
Entering Roosevelt, shoulder is unmarked so drivers use it as a second lane. Entrenched car culture for sure.

More bad coffee at Kim's. Ordered the patty melt, no fries. Very good sandwich, and Mrs. Kim is a trip.

Heading West out of town it's all industrial
suppliers and such. Road is under construction, little to no shoulder. No mileposts for a
ways, either. By happy coincidence, one
appeared at 5:29 PM, about 12 hours ago:
mp109. That made 44 miles for day 22.

Tried to charge my iPod because it was
almost dead, but it was too hot in the
afternoon sun. Apparently there's circuitry
that prevents charging above a certain temp
so the lithium battery doesn't explode. I'm
cool with that, but it means I wasn't able
to take notes on the shoulder width. I seem to remember that after the road construction
ended, a decent shoulder appeared partway
up the next hill. It lasted a mile or so,
shrank, got bigger, shrank, got bigger,
shrank again and stayed around two feet for
miles, then widened to 3 to 4 feet for the
last 10 to 15 miles into Duchesne. I'm on my
way out of town already, it's really small.

I heard the drumming again tonight. It turned
out to be, not some animal ritual as I'd imagined, but those huge-assed sprinkler systems
the farms use around these parts.

It's 69 miles to Heber City. Sure hope there's a town or two in between. Couldn't find a
wifi signal to check the map.

Woke up in a desert very similar to my own,
except for the blue sage instead of creosote.Walked/biked the 6 miles or so to complete my
base 30 for day 21. Naturally, I have to do
a lot more than that if I expect to make
the Burn under my own power. I'm still about
9 miles short of Roosevelt. Ideally, I'd like
to make it to Duchesne today. Sitting in a
cafe waiting for my huevos á la
Mexicana and drinking coffee.

Back to last night:
after one moderate climb, about 6 miles of downhill. In that area after about 134, I heard an intermittent percussive noise at about 4 or 5 Hz. Drumming, but I doubt by humans, and
too uneven to be machines.
Strange smell to this area I can't place. Maybe some kind of animal piss but I don't believe it's cows.

Shoulder varied between about 3 feet to well
over 6 feet to about mp 126, where it's rarely wider than 2 beyond the rumble strip. It
was gravelliest where it was narrowest, but
at night I rode in the road anyway to avoid
the road hazards.
[comment]

Shoulder widens to 6 feet or more at about
mp 150. Was beginning to think this was
a dry state, but on the outskirts of Vernal
I found the Naples Country Cafe, which serves
beer. Including two Uinta brews, Cutthroat
Pale Ale and Golden Spike Hefeweizen (in bottles; nothing on tap). Ordered the Mushroom
Swiss burger with fries.

Starting to plan some tactics in case I have
to go to trial:

"Officer Kelliher, do you believe that the
sight of your police car has ever deterred a
driver from speeding? Yes? Then does that
give you the right to pull people over at
random, perhaps because you don't like the
length of your hair or the appearance of
their vehicle, and issue them a speeding ticket because they would have exceeded the limitexcept for your presence? Well, that's the
moral equivalent of what you've done in my
case".

Or:

"Officer Kelliher, please look into the
judge's eyes when you answer these questions.
Your honor, as all cops know and you very
likely know, a person who is lying will
avert his eyes. Police get special training
to be able to lie without doing this, and even
to be able to pass a lie-detector test, but I
don't believe this officer will be able to
avoid betraying himself if he perjures
himself. Officer Kelliher, did you actually
witness me urinating? Or standing there with
'my dick in my hand', as you put it? Or did
you fantasize it? Did you want to see my
penis so badly that you issued the ticket
out of spite when you didn't?"
[comment]

The first Utah milepost is 174. It was almost
all downhill from Dinosaur to the state line,
and the first 10 miles or so of Utah are on
a
gradual downslope. I took advantage of this,
plus the lack of a headwind, to make up for
lost time.

After mp 169, the usable shoulder shrinks to about 2 feet. So
I rode in the road. There is little traffic, and what there is seems quite bike-conscious.
At mp163, rumble strip disappears, making shoulder usable again at about 4 feet wide.
Then, less than two miles later, a rumble
strip is cut right down the middle of that!
In some places it's paved over, thus usable, but better consider it unreliable until, after mp 169, the shoulder widens to at least 6 feet again.
Starting to get passed too closely by bike-hating assholes and bike-unseeing dimwits.

In Jensen, had the lunch special at L and M Country Store. Everything overpriced, but the
beef burrito was pretty good. After passing
through all those no-towns (just names on a map) and closed towns, I've learned to grab
a home-cooked meal at every opportunity.

Just past there, at mp 157, shoulder dwindles
to two or less usable feet. A cop, Utah
highway patrol, stopped
me to warn me about the danger. He wasn't
being an asshole, either. He told me about
a bicyclist who'd gotten splattered on this
same stretch, some time ago. He was riding
with another cyclist, something I realized
was a bad idea when I saw how some motorists
swerve into the shoulder after passing me.
Dollars to doughnuts they're looking at me
out the right-side mirror. Anyone riding in
front of me would be hurting or dead.

Milepost 153 makes 52 miles for day 21.

Night temps have been almost balmy since dropping below about 6000 feet.

Stopped at the Quizno's still 9 miles from Vernal, to use their wifi. Nobody knows the
goddamned key. Nobody knows who to fucking
call to get the goddamned key. Bunch of
mindless zombies. Funny, in the movies the
only way to put them out of operation is
a bullet to the brain. Guess that makes
these guys unstoppable. Fortunately, their
activities are relatively benign. Will try to upload when I
get to Vernal.
[comment]

Sitting outside the Loaf'NJug 24-hr
convenience store in Dinosaur, Colorado.
There are restrooms here, so if the coffee
triggers a nature call, I won't be facing
another citation. Should be in Utah shortly
after sunup.
[comment]

Got some catching up to do. Hopefully it's
not too scattered to follow. Just landed at
the Massadona Tavern and am drinking a Coors,
their best offering, while awaiting a
Massadona Burger.

For day 18, I mentioned GG's in Hadley,
where I had coffee, a sandwich, and ice
cream, and charged my iTouch. I made it to
mp107 by 1730, 63 miles including about 40 in Jose's pickup. Took a nap on the outskirts
of town, then went back in for some dinner.
I found the Hiway Bar, ordered a PBR (Pabst)
and the fish and chips. Bad choice. The guys
down the bar had steak, which looked much
better. I switched to bottled Blue Moon
and pumped some money into the jukebox; the
crispy fish and soggy fries hit my stomach
hard, and I had to shit several times..
I wanted to find a place to celebrate my
best friend's birthday in Farm Town, a virtual world in Facebook, but Hiway didn't have
wifi, and the pizza joint, which did, closed
at 8. So I missed out.

There's mostly a good shoulder on highway 40 starting in Steamboat Springs. I made it to
milepost 73 by 1725 the next day, making
34 miles for day 19. The town of Craig was
closed when I passed through.

Nice things about riding at night: lots of
falling stars, some with lingering afterburn
tails. Cool weather. Generally no wind, a
very good thing considering it's mostly been
a headwind.

Bad things: headlights in my eyes. All the
small and medium-sized towns shut down.

Health update: left hand seems better. Right
doesn't seem worse. Cracks in heels seem to
have healed, but a new, painful, crack has
appeared in the middle of my right foot.
Some back muscles are sore after some steep
uphill climbs. Wearing socks and gloves
since about Fairplay has probably helped the
heel cracks, and most definitely helped
the sunburn. Preventing further buttcrack
rash by cleaning it with one of my cloth
wipes whenever it feels damp or itchy.

Ideas: make trailer taller, and fully
enclosable, to use as toilet. Recommend to
REI to stock Palacios brand chorizo in their
food dept; it's an almost perfect food, like
a Slim Jim but without chemical preservatives (just pork, garlic, red peppers, and salt).

Made 42 miles to mp 31 to finish day 20.
Didn't think I'd even make my base goal of
30, as one long hill took me hours to
climb, but it was relatively smooth sailing
after that. Should make it to Dinosaur for
breakfast or lunch, and be in Utah tomorrow
afternoon.
[comment]

The Old Town Pub in downtown Steamboat Springs has a good selection of drafts, and wifi. After three pints, I took a leak and hit the
road.

Not long afterwards, I had to pee again. I
reached a secluded part of town and got ready, but a car was coming by. I waited for it to
pass, but unfortunately it turned around
and parked near me. It was a cop. Though he
couldn't have seen anything -- I didn't get
a chance to release even a drop, and kept
my dangly bits out of sight -- he copped an
attitude and wrote me a ticket. Lying sack of
shit. If I don't appear for court next month,
it says a warrant will be issued for my
arrest. No idea how far that extends... only
to Steamboat Springs? Statewide throughout
Colorado? Nationwide? Whatever, it took all
the joy out of my trip. Thanks a whole
shitload, Officer Dan Kelliher and your
fucking prissy attitude.

Made it to GG's Coffee Shop, the windmill
looking structure on the outskirts of
Hayden, for coffee and panini. Trying to get
the joy back. Maybe I should have some ice
cream.
[comment]

After I had walked less than two miles into the headwind, an angel named Jose took me in his pickup to Steamboat Springs.

Had the mixed grill plate at Bombay Grill in Steamboat Springs. A good meal for a big appetite, but quite pricey at $22.00. Washed it down with a pint each of Newkie Brown and Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.
[comment]

Milepost 114 to 138 into Kremmling on route 9 made 24 miles; another
mile to mp183 on route 40 made 25; and just
crossed mp170 at 1730 to make 38 miles for
day 17. Should be an interesting night;
looks like rain, I've got a pass to go through, and the shoulders are few and far between.
And I haven't had a decent meal since lunch
yesterday. Did manage to get some sleep
today, though.

Spent the last, coldest, hours of last night
huddled over a sagebrush fire with David, a
guy who was hitchhiking back home to Craig
after having to go to Denver.
[comment]

Melinda had to go to Silverthorne, so saved me 36 miles, and I started day 16 about 1545
near milepost 105 of Colorado route 9. I made 9 more miles under my own power by 1724, making
45 miles for day 16, and starting day 17 at
mp114.
A headwind, and the end of the paved shoulder, both came up in less than a mile.
But by 2300 I'd made it into Kremmling,
and sniffed out the Rocky Mountain Bar and
Grill on national route 40. The last milepost I remember seeing on route 9 was 138.

This bar may be a dive, but they play good
hard rock and they have one decent brew on
tap, Widmer's Drop Top Amber Ale. I'm starting
my 3rd pint.
[comment]

The other day I mentioned "remember the gorilla" after thinking about how
bicycle riders can be invisible to motorists who haven't already been sensitized
to cyclists in their midst. This video was what I was talking about. The page is
kind of a spoiler, so maybe watch the video first, counting the basketball passes, then go
back and view the page.
[comment]

Sundown Monday, found the cig-lighter
connector for my headlight had broken
internally. Hadn't brought my propane iron.
But couldn't just stay in Moffat overnight,
it would have been too cold. So I started
out by twilight, then starlight, hoping
I was visible enough with my reflectors.

Then, shortly after dark, a Northerly wind
combined with a slight upgrade made biking
too difficult. Resigned myself to walking.
Reached the last milepost on highway 17, mp 118, before it merged with 285 North, which meant 14 miles to start day 12 by 2:07 AM. The
zero milepost for this stretch of 285 was mp101. I doggedly made 30 miles, then after
another two miles began an 8-mile downhill
that took me all the way into Poncha Springs. On the way down, some asshole threw a full
can of beer or soda at me, which could easily have killed me at the speeds involved, but
luckily it just glanced off my leg and my
trailer ran over it. It was a bronze-colored pickup truck, and when I got to the
bottom of the hill a bronze pickup with
a yellow plate with red letters was just
pulling out. But I had no idea if it was the same one, and in any case what could I have
done? Had to let it go.

Stopped there, the High Valley Center at Poncha springs for a 90 Shilling ale and chile-smothered pork tamale, excellent. Then a few
minutes later, headed towards the town of
Salida, a blue pickup truck stopped in front
of me and a beautiful cowgirl got out and
hugged me. Melinda, my childhood neighbor
from Skowhegan, who had recently reconnected
with me via Facebook and my blog, drove me
another 40 miles or so into Fairplay where
I'm now couchsurfing in comfort, recuperating from the journey thus far. That made about
80 miles for day 12, and there won't
likely be any more progress until Saturday
evening.

Last night, besides getting a hangover from
too much beer, my system adjusted to the
high altitude (over 10000 feet) by gasping
for breath every few minutes, waking me each
time. Should go easier tonight.
[comment]

Breezed through Alamosa after finding the
first bar closed early. The last milepost
I passed on 285 was 34. Then about a mile
away, passed mp70 on highway 17.

The chips I bought at the stores in Antonito, where I'd found both a bank ATM and stores
that take plastic, are making my system
acid. The almonds didn't do that.

No shoulder most of 17 but traffic is bike-friendly. And I had the road to myself for a lot
of the way where the road was being paved.
Stopped at some of the little towns for
friendly service: the Mosca Pit Stop, and
the Brazen Cafe in Hooper.

By 1730 crossed milepost 104 for total of 56 miles for day 11. Sitting outside the closed
cafe in Moffat typing this, using my Start-It
that I managed to charge while riding all day,
using my Sun-Linq 6.5W panel strung with
bungee cords (found on the highway) across
the back of my trailer.
[comment]

In Espanola I'd somehow gotten off the
highway. When I aw a sign "To 285/84" I
had ahard time deciding if it was a mistake
or not, but I decided to trust it and,
after crossing the Rio Grande, there it was.
Just past milepost 197, 285 splits off to
right from 84. At the Chevron station there,
I bought and overpriced little bottle of
Mazola corn oil for my trailer bearings,
chain, and cracked feet. It helped everything
except the feet.

Route 285 was numbered differently. Milepost
337 was only about a half-mile away from
197, so call it 32 miles at MP337.

Just past milepost 339, a rumblestrip in the middle of the shoulder made it unusable.
Crossed MP 345 at about 1724 to make 40 miles for day 8.
Got to Ojo Caliente just in time to have a
grren chile cheeseburger and iced coffee
at the Mesa Vista Cafe before they closed.
Spent my last $10-spot. Plastic just doesn't
work in these parts, and places close early.
Need cash and cache (plenty of food and water).

Realized the linkage needs to be rigid at both ends or it sags to hit the road. Needs to be reinforced with thicker walled tubing or solid rod, brazed on.

A spring over seatpost would be better than
the piece of plastic tubing I have now.

Bad shoulder again around mp364, gravelly and/or rumblestrip down the middle. And
after mp371 the shoulder is gone.

The wind has been intermittently from a
Southerly direction yesterday and today. If
I had a sail I could get a lot more "free"
miles.

At this point I ran out of food. Now out of
both food and cash, except for some pocket
change.
For the sake of bikers and hikers, it would be nice to have some services every 10 miles.

After mp 379, a newer road with something resembling a shoulder appeared.
Got a sandwich and water in Tres Piedras with the last 4.50 or so of coins in my
purse, at the
Line Piñon Trading Post.

No shoulder again after mp 384.

Got to mp 386 before 1730, for total 41 miles day 9.

This is sagebrush country, cool breeze all day.

After mp 392, a new road with shoulder.
Crossed the Colorado line about 0335 local time. Last milepost on NM side was 408.

Note on gear: the
charging port on Black and Decker's Start It doesn't grip tight, and both the rain cover and charge adapter keep falling out.
[comment]

By 1730 I'd only managed to pass the dangerous high-speed junction where Guadalupe Street
meets 285. That made only 35 miles for day
7, and most of it was gifted. Day 8's miles will count starting at milepost 165 of highway
285.

Since then it's been mostly downhill into
Cuyamungue, with nice wide shoulders. But
after those high-speed downhills, my trailer wheels are squealing. Guess I'd better at least oil them. Should be a grocery store in
Espanola.
[comment]

I might have already mentioned, but am too
beer-buzzed to bother looking: I made it to
milepost 251 for 25 miles to complete day 6
of my journey. Leaving the Pueblo casino,
past exit 252 there was a usable shoulder of
about 1 foot. Can't count the rumble strip,
and can't count the slope for rain runoff,
particularly when it's angled opposite that
of the road, so there you go (I pictured
having to explain all this to an officer
of the law... I didn't have to). It got
back to normal, over 4 feet wide, within
about 2 miles.

Then, near the top of the hill past MP 255,
a guy was waiting in a pickup. Red Dog, a
mixed-mode martial arts fighter and trainer, drove me like a bat out of hell to highway
285 (St. Francis road, exit 282).

Several aborted attempts to sleep during the
night. Then when I found net access, headed
towards a park. The entrance was effectively
hidden; a fire station under construction,
and the red curb of a fire lane entering the
park: the Imposing Air of Authority. Got
my conspiracy mode engaged. Thinking that
in a year they could post a notice in the
paper regarding the closing of an unused park
in plat blah blah blah of the city. And in
two years it becomes a new condominium development. Like the Vogons did to Earth for the
new intergalactic freeway.

Young guy, didn't get his name, showed me how
to adjust my handlebars at Ron and Charlie's
bike shop. So now, hopefully, the feeling
can come back to the fingers of my right hand.

Then I took the bike path next to the tracks and hit the 2nd St. Brewery. 2 pints of
Rod's Best Bitter and an awesome burger and
crisp fries later, and I'm having to switch
to coffee if I hope to get any programming
done. Tom, the bartender, is very accomodating, and the crowd is friendly.
[comment]

Took 313, the old Camino Real, from Bernalillo to Algodones, then had to get back onto
the freeway. The trailer's really dragging
ass, I sure hope the bearings aren't shot.
Might have to scale down my travel plans
and ship a bunch of stuff home.

I did manage to fix one problem: the piece of
tubing that connects the trailer to the bike
has been sagging to where it rubbed the tire.
I found a broken sprinkler head by the
road, gutted it, cut off the narrow end with
my wiresaw, and used the resulting piece of
rigid plastic tube to lift the connecting
tubing another 3 inches or so higher, slipping it over the seat mount. The wiresaw broke
in the process, though. Guess it got flexed
to the point of fatigue in my cargo pocket.

Right hand is getting worse, not only numb
but less control over the fingers. Got to
get the handlebars raised. Meanwhile, I'm
taking it easier on my hands and walking
most of the time. Only made 25 miles by 5:30,
to MP 251. Went to the next exit for iced
coffee and green chile stew at the casino
restaurant. Good stuff.
[comment]

I guess people just don't realize bikes
use the shoulders. Nice, wide shoulders that
narrow to almost nothing are deathtraps.
Better to have it narrow from the get-go
so people don't get sucked into it. There's
only a 1-ft usable shoulder approaching
the Alameda Rd. exit.

Leaving Denny's and reentering the freeway, I had to cross two lanes to get onto the ramp. As I was just hitting the far right edge of the ramp, a car passed me within millimeters. Very scary, whether he did it on purpose or just didn't see me. Remember the gorilla.

The gods sent me a Kent flotation device for
free on the side of the highway. Slept on it
for two hours this morning, here in
Bernalillo at MP 242. Works great.
[comment]

Let me warn you up front, this is going to
be hard reading. I've got notes and ideas from
two days or more, and I'm going to try to
sort them all out.

First off, I'm at the Chama River Brewing
Company in the North side of Albuquerque
having a Rio Lodo Brown Ale. Got the pork
belly special on order. It's been rough, and
I'm going to treat myself.

OK, picking up from where we left off, I
think it was Sam's awesome green chile
cheeseburger and fries back at the lodge on
El Camino Real. Gawd, it seems like a week ago.

From milepost 131 of I-25, the shoulder is
badly cracked and dangerous for several miles. The cracks aren't just perpendicular to the shoulder, but parallel as well, and if I
had steering problems with my mountain bike
tires I can imagine how bad it would be with
those skinny road tires. It looks as though
a road crew did a cosmetic job of patching
it without making it functional. Or perhaps
it just eroded over time. Whatever the case,
the road there has obviously been repaved,
and the shoulder has not. The message I'm
getting from the NMDOT is that bicyclists are
considered second-class users of the roads.
If you're considering a trip like mine, and
you want to get some of those problems I
mentioned fixed, you might and to call the
Highway Dept. at 1-800-432-4269. I'll try
to email them too if I get a chance to
look some things up; I remember there being
a special bicycle liaison.

It gets hard to motivate oneself when there's
30, 50, or even 100 miles to the next town.
I've found a little trick that helps me:
praise every footstep, rejoice every mile, celebrate every 10 miles. Use different numbers
or units if you prefer, but this helps avoid the drudgery of "still only one mile closer?!?"

Notes on gear: the Platypus water tank, at
6
liters, is one of the best out there. But one
of the two won't keep sealed and the other one
does. Guess I'll have to buy a few, test them
out, and keep the good ones.
Cloth shopping bags can be used as mosquito head nets while sleeping. And remember, you
can never have too many carabiners.

Kinetic sculpture idea "King Tet": tetrahedron with capsule and 4 legs sticking out with
wheeled pontoon feet. Wheels retract when leg is moved from inside capsule, so you can
propel it that way. I think it would tumble
beautifully down Dead Man's Drop. And if the wheels all turned at a tangent, it could spin dizzily during the brake test.

As I'm sure I've already mentioned ad nauseam, gear should be multi-use. Since I already
need a life jacket for the KGC, I should get
one that also functions as a sleeping pad.

I made it
to MP 175 for total of 60 miles day 4. I guess it must have been yesterday evening I hit
Belen. What a godforsaken, unfriendly town.
Darkwads at breakneck speeds on the freeway.
Sheriff dept. truck stopped to tell me I was
going to get hit after I just crossed the
street to McD's. Sullen teens mumbling
obscenities about the hippie. My bike is
invisible, and a guy pulled right in front of
me. No bike lanes in the South end of town,
and not all sidewalks have ramps. Even the
mosquitos were mean, descending on me
like a plague just at dusk.

I got lost a few times and hit at least one
dead-end, trying to avoid the harrowing
breakdown lane of the freeway. Ended up
getting back on it anyway. All those cars
screaming by at 70MPH plus. Reminds me of
that quote in Wounded Knee,
something about the white man always hurrying here and there and never seeming to be any
happier when he gets there.

Up to now I'd made it a point not to
pass up a bar. Now that I'm in a metropolitan
area, I'm having to be more selective.

I've come upon what might be another vision
curing method. Close eyes hard then open as
wide as you can. Look at distant target. If
blurry, keep trying till it comes in clear, maybe one in 30 tries. Then test it on closer
and more distant objects. Eventually it will
blur. I've managed to hold the focus for
maybe 5 seconds. But I could be deluding
myself and it's just another manifestation
of the pinhole effect, somehow.

It finally struck me after thinking about
the YouTube video Greening the
Desert, which I've watched umpteen
times:
keeping land swaled and bermed makes it desertproof. People watching encroaching
desertification should start now, not wait
until everyting dies.

My fingers are getting numb. Got to watch that; it took months, as I remember, for them to
recover after the last big bike trip, and I'd
thought at times they never would.

Sold my first commodity option at about an
$80 profit, my first win after a string of
5 losses. Tip: buy and sell using limits:
placing market orders almost guarantees you'll
pay too high and sell too low. I've got a
hunch that the wild price swings during the
trading day are due to clueless newbies
placing market orders. Remember, a sucker is
born every minute, and two to grab him:
the brokers for buyer and seller, who
probably split the profits made by making the
trade at a few cents higher or lower than the
going rate.

It struck me: I'm at last truly nomadic. All
those times I waited for rides to EP or LC
were unnecessary; I could have just biked
there.

Perhaps you're familiar with the "cornucopia" idea, popular among conservatives, that states that everyone can be rich. I once was an
adherent myself. But I see that the zero-sum people are right in some respects, at least
in the short term. Fresh water being one
glaring zero-sum item in the desert, with
a few squandering it.

Applied dust to the buttcrack rash, from
under a mesquite tree, and it definitely
helped. Also have been applying light-colored dust to backs of hands, and they haven't gotten noticeably worse. Same thing I used as sunscreen at last year's Burning Man.

Made it to MP 226 by 5:30, for a total of
51 countable miles for day 5. Feet hurt. Right
knee hurts. Not enough sleep. Might not be
able to go anywhere tonight after these 2
pints. Next goal: Santa Fe, about 55 miles
North.
[comment]

Not far up the road from the cafe, I stopped
at the Caballo Tavern for a beer. Or rather,
MGD, the closest they had to a beer. The
Nutt bar was about the same in that respect,
Miller High Life being their best offering.

I almost passed the whole length of Caballo
Lake before I saw the sign at mile post 24,
"primitive camping". It said $8 per night,
but all I wanted was a swim and a nap, and
figured I could make a deal, or better, not
see anybody. And that's what happened. I
took the left fork past the gate, then
straight through the 4-way intersection,
then the right fork. I parked at a dead-end
before the road washed out, climbed down to
the lake, and had a swim. Couldn't nap and
watch my bike, though, so got out of there.

Made it to Truth or Consequences by 5:30, for
a total of 56 miles for day 2 of the journey. And all of it under my own power. Stopped at
Los Arcos for some beers and a Prime Rib (so
called) sandwich, way overpriced at $10.99.
And the beers! $4.99 each. A guy named Gary
bought my 3rd one, saving me from even worse
"sticker shock".

Then asked at the gas station for route 181
and found I'd just passed it. So much traffic
was passing me I figured it was a mistake,
but almost all of it turned at the next
junction, 171, leaving me with the road
pretty much to myself. I figure it was two
miles on Broadway to where 181 started.

I knew I was supposed to get off 181 at the
freeway entrance 89, but I missed it. Went
down a 2-mile hill to find the road closed,
and had to push my 100-pound or so load
back up the hill. The sign at the freeway
entrance was encouraging, though, specifically mentioning bicycles in the shoulder only.
The entrance was at about milepost 10 of 181,
making 12 miles for day 3 at that point.

Problem is, the usable shoulder at the bottom of the hill was only about 2 feet wide. My trailer tires hit the rumble strip, and I had to stop and walk it up the next hill.

Took exit 100, thinking it was highway 85 to
Socorro. But with no sign mentioning
anything, I found a gravel road just off the
exit ramp. Slept for a few hours in the
gravel pit.

Got back on I25, found another bridge with
almost no shoulder at all at Nogal Canyon.
Made it to a rest stop, and rested up for a
few hours, charging my battery with my
folding solar panel. Then went another mile
or so up the road, to exit 115, Camino Real,
and Sam served me a green chile cheeseburger and two ice-cold Negra Modelos. Very good.

Finding I'm needing 9 to 11 liters of fluids
daily, maybe 8 of it water. Got sunburn on
hands and feet, buttcrack rash, raw spots at
the base of both little toes, and muscles
are sore. Other than that, I feel great.
Made about 38 miles on day 3. Now off to
Socorro.
[comment]

24 hrs after the start of my journey, I'd
made about 57 miles, 37 under my own power.
Stopped at the Nutt Corner Bar & Cafe
for a few beers. Joe, the owner and bartender, said it used to be the Middle of Nowhere
Bar. Ordered a pizza, which he called
"small", for $6. It was so big, and filled
me so full, that I
almost threw it up later.

The place is cash-only. Guess that's the norm
in these parts.

Hatch Road, Highway 26, was bike-friendly with a paved shoulder for the first 27 miles or so from Deming. Not far after the bar, the
shoulder becomes bumpy, then packed earth,
then variously nonexistent to loose gravel.
Approaching Hatch, with some welcome downhills, it becomes paved again but only randomly
marked.

I slept last night not far from the bar, and
started for Hatch about 0315. Missed my turn
onto 187 at first, then went back and found
it by the DoIt Best hardware store. Now I'm
in the in the Arrey Cafe where I had a burrito
and iced coffee. Good homemade salsa.
[comment]